The Lord Himself is in the Upper Room spending the last hours He will ever have with His apostles while on earth. He is covering the major subjects they need to grasp before His death, revealing and filling them with the glorious truths that will help them through the upcoming trials they are to face.
The greatest help the believers are to receive is the very presence of God Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is this that Jesus now reveals. He reveals the Holy Spirit, His identity, who He is.
Jesus stated a simple fact that must be clearly understood: "If you love me you will keep my commandments." Jesus is not giving an optional commandment, He is saying that the man or woman who truly loves Him will keep His commandments. To the believer, there is no option. In this we are not claiming perfection, but claiming to love Jesus and to believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God.
The greatest help the believers are to receive is the very presence of God Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is this that Jesus now reveals. He reveals the Holy Spirit, His identity, who He is.
Jesus stated a simple fact that must be clearly understood: "If you love me you will keep my commandments." Jesus is not giving an optional commandment, He is saying that the man or woman who truly loves Him will keep His commandments. To the believer, there is no option. In this we are not claiming perfection, but claiming to love Jesus and to believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God.
To love Jesus is not an emotional thing. It involves emotions, but it is not based upon emotions. It is not feelings: not feeling good today and loving Jesus, and feeling bad tomorrow and not loving Jesus. Loving Jesus is not a fluctuating experience, not an up and down emotion. It is not an emotional love that changes with feelings.
"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love." John 15:10, 14.
"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John 2:3.
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules". Ezekiel 36:27
"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love." John 15:10, 14.
"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John 2:3.
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules". Ezekiel 36:27
- The Holy Spirit is another Helper. The purpose is to help in any way possible, someone like Jesus Himself who will take His place and do His work.
- The priestly and intercessory work of Christ began with the request that the Father send the Holy Spirit to indwell in the people of faith, He is our Intercessor, the One who pleads our case.
- The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, the very same Truth that Christ is. His teaching is true and He glorifies Christ who is the truth. John 16:13
The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of Christ. Jesus said, "I will come to you." He meant that He would return after He had gone away, that is, died. He would come back to give believers His personal presence. He would not leave them comfortless or as orphans, to be helpless. Jesus would not leave them to struggle through the trials of life alone. Jesus' presence with His followers began with His resurrection and with the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was saying that He would come to the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit.
The presence of Jesus is a living, eternal presence. He died, but He did not stay dead. He arose and conquered death. He arose to live forever. Now think: if Jesus Christ is living forever and He dwells within the believer, then the believer lives eternally. Christ the Eternal Presence lives within the believer; therefore, the believer becomes eternal. He never dies. The believer is made eternal by the eternal presence of Christ within him. In fact, when Jesus says "I live," He means He lives abundantly and eternally: He lives life in all of its full meaning. Therefore, by living within the believer, Christ imparts the same kind of life to the believer, a life that is both abundant and eternal.
By the Spirit of God, we can actually know Christ better today than the disciples knew Him when He was on earth. When He was here, those in the front of the crowd were closer to Him than those in the rear. But today, by faith, each of us can enjoy the closest of fellowship with Him. Christ’s answer to Judas’ question shows that the promised manifestations to His individual followers is connected with the Word of God. Obedience to the Word will result in the coming and abiding of the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is the abiding presence of the Trinity. Note the words, "My Father...we will come...and make our abode with him [the believer]." Both the Father and Christ come to abide in the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, 26).
I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. " (John 17:22-23).
Jesus’ reply, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (17:6), explained that He will not reveal Himself to those who refuse to love and obey Him. This is the third time in this section (v. 15, 21) that Christ linked obedience with genuine love for Him (8:31). Not only will He love those who love Him (1 Peter 1:1–2), the Father also will love them. Further, both the Father and the Son will come to them and make their home with them. The Lord’s declaration, “whoever does not love Me does not keep My words,” emphasized yet again, this time negatively, the inseparable connection between love for Him and obedience to Him. Jesus will not make Himself known to those who reject Him (8:47). Such people also do not know the Father, since Jesus’ message was not His, but the Father’s who sent Him, Therefore to reject Jesus is also to reject the Father. To have Jesus is to have the Father.
The Holy Spirit is the Teacher. He teaches "all things" which Jesus taught. "All things" means all the things which Jesus taught including the presence of the Comforter (Holy Spirit), who is given to help the believer through the trials of life, and the indwelling presence and love of the Father and Son.
However, a crucial point must be heeded. The Helper comes only from the Father "in the name" of Jesus. In calling God "the Father," a Father-child relationship is stressed. One must become a child of God, that is, of the Father, in order to be given the Father's Helper. The words "in the name" of Christ mean that one must approach the Father "in" the name of Christ, that is, recognizing that Jesus alone is acceptable to God
By the Spirit of God, we can actually know Christ better today than the disciples knew Him when He was on earth. When He was here, those in the front of the crowd were closer to Him than those in the rear. But today, by faith, each of us can enjoy the closest of fellowship with Him. Christ’s answer to Judas’ question shows that the promised manifestations to His individual followers is connected with the Word of God. Obedience to the Word will result in the coming and abiding of the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is the abiding presence of the Trinity. Note the words, "My Father...we will come...and make our abode with him [the believer]." Both the Father and Christ come to abide in the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, 26).
- The abiding presence of the Trinity is conditional: To those who obey Christ, and love and keep His words.
- The abiding presence of the Trinity is the love and presence of God and Christ and the Holy Spirit—all three dwelling within the life of the believer.
- The abiding presence of the Trinity is not "in" the man who does not love and obey Jesus.
- The abiding presence of the Trinity is assured by God Himself. Note what Jesus said: His words are the words of the Father who sent Him.
I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. " (John 17:22-23).
Jesus’ reply, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (17:6), explained that He will not reveal Himself to those who refuse to love and obey Him. This is the third time in this section (v. 15, 21) that Christ linked obedience with genuine love for Him (8:31). Not only will He love those who love Him (1 Peter 1:1–2), the Father also will love them. Further, both the Father and the Son will come to them and make their home with them. The Lord’s declaration, “whoever does not love Me does not keep My words,” emphasized yet again, this time negatively, the inseparable connection between love for Him and obedience to Him. Jesus will not make Himself known to those who reject Him (8:47). Such people also do not know the Father, since Jesus’ message was not His, but the Father’s who sent Him, Therefore to reject Jesus is also to reject the Father. To have Jesus is to have the Father.
The Holy Spirit is the Teacher. He teaches "all things" which Jesus taught. "All things" means all the things which Jesus taught including the presence of the Comforter (Holy Spirit), who is given to help the believer through the trials of life, and the indwelling presence and love of the Father and Son.
However, a crucial point must be heeded. The Helper comes only from the Father "in the name" of Jesus. In calling God "the Father," a Father-child relationship is stressed. One must become a child of God, that is, of the Father, in order to be given the Father's Helper. The words "in the name" of Christ mean that one must approach the Father "in" the name of Christ, that is, recognizing that Jesus alone is acceptable to God
The purpose of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life is twofold.
- To teach all things: both the words and the life of Christ, both the Truth and the Life, both the Word and how to live, both the theory and the practice, both the principles and the conduct, both the morality and the behavior.
